Baylor has hired Kevin Sullivan Communications, but the company’s founder and namesake says his company wasn’t hired to influence opinion.

“We were hired just to be an extra resource on the media relations front to help out (Baylor executive associate athletic director) Nick (Joos),” Kevin Sullivan told Fox Sports Southwest on Monday night. “He’s got a small staff and has a huge amount of activity going on right now.”

The university hired the firm last week.

Sullivan said Baylor had used the firm in the past and he’d had a long relationship with Joos. He also said any insinuation that the firm had been hired to influence the 12-person committee charged with selecting the four participants in the College Football Playoff was “inaccurate.”

“We’re just trying to set up some national interviews for (athletic director) Ian (McCaw),” Sullivan said. “It’s media relations, that’s all.”

So, essentially, the Dumb Fucks Down In Waco didn’t hire Sully’s group to influence public opinion, NoSirreeBob. No, they’re just going to help with media relations.

To help them influence public opinion.

The simple fact is this: The Playoff Selection Committee has seen the 61-58 travesty that took place in Waco a few weeks back – and the more they’ve thought about it, the more they have realized that there’s no fucking way in Hell that Baylor’s a better team than TCU – a position pretty strongly reinforced by that selfsame Cubbie squad getting torched by unranked West Virginia the next week.

Memo to Widdle Artie Bwiles and the rest of the Baylor pussies: Save the PR money next time – and just beat West Virginia. (Oh, and playing someone other than the Little Sisters of the Poor in non-conference wouldn’t hurt, either.)

Okay, here we go. It’s finally put-up-or-shut-up time for Gary Patterson and his third-ranked TCU Horned Frogs. They have Iowa State at home – and though the Cyclones aren’t going to be the pushover everyone’s expecting…how bad are they?

They got beat by Rock Chalk.

If TCU wants to be taken seriously this year, they not only have to beat Iowa State at home, but beat them convincingly. None of this “we only need to score one more point than them” bullshit this week, Coach P. We have to have a beating of Texas Tech proportions tomorrow (sorry, General). Pull what Baylor did last week against Tech, and both Baylor and Ohio State will jump you.

One of your team mottos is “Leave No Doubt”. Well, now’s the time.

Sunday, Andy Dalton & the Cincinnati Bengals will play host to Ben Roethelisberger (did I spell that right?) and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Pittsburgh…isn’t quite as good this year as in years past. They’re still 7-5, but they’ve looked postively horrible in those five losses. Still, it’s a technical toss-up (Bengals favored at home by three); it’ll depend on how well Cincy’s line protects Andy.

The wild-card games this week are as follows: Oklahoma State to play #20 Oklahoma in the annual Bedlam game (never mind where they go post-season – this is OU’s bowl game), 13th-ranked Wisconsin vs. #5 The Ohio State University in the B1G championship game (sorry, but OSU has no chance against Bucky with their third-string quarterback playing), top-ranked Alabama vs. 16th-ranked Mizzou in the SEC championship game (I’d love for Mizzou to win here, ’cause it might actually propel Baylor to the top four and finally get them to shut up – but Bama’s too strong) and SMUT going up to play Connecticut (the Huskies were the Shitland Ponies’ first post-Death Penalty victim, and Kennycut’s never forgotten that; SMUT completes its winless season).

I’m back at work Monday, so I’ll get to the recap ASAP – hopefully Sunday. In the meantime, Vicar, care to pick the SEC winner…?

Revenge acquired for Arlington Heights; thank you, Randall HS. We’re done with the high-schoolers ’til next year (if there’s a “next year” – jury’s still out on that).

—

No 109-yard comeback for the Tigers this year. Roll Tide!

—

I swear to Cthulhu – something’s wrong with Andy. Not even in his early days at TCU was he this bad. Granted, it looked like he was playing with the flu Sunday – but this goes beyond that.

Three more picks (all in the first half), and had they not been playing the Yukkaneers, it could have gotten even uglier. As it was, they had to come back from 10 down to win by one. (Think he got that from Gary Patterson.)

—

Too much Melvin Gordon, who damn near outrushed the entire Gopher team all by his lonesome (151 to 177 for UMinn).

Bucky now plays The Ohio State University for the B1G cham-peen-ship.

—

Speaking of Gary Patterson – for all the hullabaloo (ki-neck, ki-neck – sorry, little A&M lingo there) surrounding the revamped Frog offense, it’s still that swarming 4-2-5 defense that is TCU’s calling card. And with the exception of one bubble screen that went for a 73-yard score, that calling card got shoved up the Longhorns’ ass Thursday.

Six turnovers (including four picks, one a pick-six) four sacks of Texas QB Tyrone Swoopes – who will eventually be good, he just has growing pains like every other young quarterback – and an efficient (if not spectacular) effort from Trevone Boykin led to the Frog romp.

—

Give Iowa a defense, and there’s no telling where the Hawkeyes could go in the B1G.

But they don’t, and when Nebraska kicked the tying field goal following a 35-yard bomb from Tommy Armstrong to Brandon Reilly, one could pretty much tell that the Hawkeyes were going to piss this one away. Good teams don’t surrender 10-point fourth-quarter leads to teams like Nebraska.

This week…

MERLIN: Uh…m’lord?

VENOMOUS: Yes, Wizard?

MERLIN: The WITY…?

VENOMOUS: Oh, right. Good catch.

Remember I said that we were witnessing the last days of Pelini’s reign of error in the Corn Nation?

Bo Pelini was fired on Sunday, ending the seven-year run of the polarizing figure as Nebraska’s football coach.

“We weren’t good enough in the games that mattered,” athletic director Shawn Eichorst said in his meeting with the media that lasted nearly 35 minutes. “I didn’t see that changing at the end of the day.”

Translation: they were getting stomped in those big games (see: Nebraska 24, Wisconsin 59). That was becoming the rule rather than the exception. This is why Bo got shown the door.

Last evening Mrs. Vicar and I had the pleasure of attending the Starkville Christmas parade. We had a blast! Our parade may not have the glitz and glamour of parades in larger and more famous burgs, but it was a time for out folks to enjoy ourselves and to see our young people strut their stuff.

For me the highlight of the parade was the three bands who provided the music. The lead band, as in they were the second unit in the parade, was the Mississippi State University Famous Maroon Band. I may have developed an interest in College football, but it is still the bands which turn my crank. These young adults are really good! Following the Maroon band later in the parade was the local middle school band, and the High school band. While these kids did not have the polish and finesse of the University band, they made up for it in enthusiasm, and we could see the beginnings of some amazing musicians.

Venemous, General, I’m sorry, when the sportscasters cut away from a game during half-time, they miss the best part of the game!

Denizes, as we start the Holiday Edition of the Perfect Football Weekend, it is time for yet another WITY. Someone else besides me has finally figured out that The Second Coming Of The World’s Greatest Quarterback Ever In The History Of Ever, Ever! – aka ARRRRRRRRRRRR GEEEEEEEEEEEEE THREEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!1!!!ONE!!~ – isn’t all that ‘n a bag o’ chips.

If Jay Gruden’s stinging words this week about quarterback Robert Griffin III have not resonated, team sources tell ESPN that the Washington Redskins coach is prepared to speak louder if the third-year quarterback does not perform more consistently Sunday against the San Francisco 49ers.

That means Griffin could be yanked Sunday in favor of Colt McCoy, who is 2-0 as Griffin’s sub, or an evaluation will be made to make a move next week.

Gruden’s criticism has cited a breakdown in fundamentals, Griffin’s inability to overcome adversity and even that he has been “coddled.”

[...]

Through four games, Griffin has thrown for 763 yards, with 2 total touchdowns, 3 interceptions and a QBR of 34.2. The Redskins are 0-2 since he returned from a dislocated left ankle.

I have long told anyone who would listen that the only reason Robert Griffin III was in the position he’s in was because of one game – the 2011 season opener against TCU. He had a decent enough game against an untested, inexperienced secondary…and at that, one of those touchdown passes was an illegal double forward pass.

Add to that the fact that Ross Evans couldn’t kick his way out of a paper bag, and what should have been a 51-50 TCU win turned out to be a 50-48 Baylor victory, and the birth of a pseudo-legend.

Well, after an admittedly successful rookie year, the NFL has had a chance to figure out ARRRR GEEEE THREEEEEE!!!! That, plus an injury has resulted in Grifiin, who (believe it or not) actually has a statue out in front of Baylor’s new stadium, turning into another Andre Ware (great college QB, not so much in the pros). They’ve figured out that if you want to make Griffin mediocre, keep him in the pocket.

The quaterback for the future for the Washington Redskins might not be in the locker-room as they believed.

Robert Griffin III, the Heisman trophy winner and top draft pick for Washington has battled injuries and a constant rotation on coaches and offensive coordinators. His days might be numbered as of this week.

After getting back in the line-up after battling injuries, Griffin will be finding himself back on the bench again.

When the Skins play the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday, journeyman Colt McCoy will be the starting quarterback. McCoy has played well when asked to play this season in Griffins absence.

Well? What’d I Tell Ya?

Let’s get to the football. It’s Thanksgiving, so while we’re not chronicling the Dallas Cowgirlz this time around (even though they’re at home versus Filthydelphia), we are talking about Gary Patterson’s fifth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs as they’re in Austin against the Texas Longhorns T-Sip Shortdicks. TU’s defense is improved from a few weeks ago, but Vegas still has the Frogs as a 6½-point road fave. May come down to Jaden Overkrom again, we’ll have to see.

Cincinnati’s pretty much got a gimme this week, as they travel to Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay to play the Bucs. Andy, can you bring back one of those pirate wenches when you get back to Fort Worth?

MRS. VENOMOUS (with cast-iron skillet): HEY!!!!!!!

VENOMOUS:

Arlington Heights is out of the playoffs, so we’re going to go with plan R – for Revenge. Wichita Falls Rider, which beat Heights last week, is up in the regional playoffs in Lubbock this week against Canyon Randall HS. GO RANDALL!!!!!

For the wildcards this week, we’re going with top-ranked Alabama hosting #15 Auburn (Bama’s has not forgotten that 109-yard failed-field-goal return from last year, and they’re out for revenge, as well), Nebraska at Iowa (the Huskers’ collapse continues as we observe what’re probably Pelini’s last days) and 18th-ranked Minnesota going to Camp Randall to get steamrolled by #14 Wisconsin (I’d love to see Minnehaha win here, as it helps TCU, but you’re not beating Bucky in Madison. Ain’t happening).

We’re back Monday with the recap. In the meantime…Vicar, how do you handicap the Egg Bowl (#19 Ole Miss vs. #4 Mississippi State)?

I first penned (penned?) this screed (g) on 11/17/01. I thought it appropriate then (and still do), it being Thanksgiving and all, to jot down a list of those things for which I was thankful. This year the tradition continues, below the fold, as usual with only a few minor tweaks to keep things current:

First of all, let me once again apologize for not blogging as much as I wish I could. Ideally, I’d be cranking out two or three posts a day. There’s certainly that much going on in the world, and it tears at my gut to be missing the opportunities to write about these things. Pains me even more to think that you, the Denizens, are missing out on most of My Eternal Wisdom.

The fact is that I simply have not had time to do one of the things that I enjoy more than I ever thought I would – writing. I never for a moment, sitting in my first ever English Composition college class twenty-five thirty years ago (Great Honkin’ Cthulhu, has it been that long????), taught by a guy I believed to be an idiot, thought that I would ever come to the point that I actually got a kick out of slapping thoughts on page.

Amazing how things change.

But, I digress. There’s not been enough time. There’s never been enough time, but that’s beside the point. I’ve been swamped at work, and that’s when I’m not trying to renew a certification. This is taking me away from the chores I need to be doing – keeping the house clean, doing the laundry in a timely fashion, cleaning the kitchen, picking up dog crap off the carpet, those sorts of things.

MRS. VENOMOUS (with cast-iron skillet): Since when do you do those things anymore, slave driver?

VENOMOUS: Since I have you to do them for me, sweetie… (plants long kiss on the lips of Mrs. Venomous)

MRS. VENOMOUS (tossing aside cast-iron skillet): (swoon!!!!!)

Anyway, when I do finally get around to those things, they keep me from doing stuff I like to do – like surfing the Web and writing these columns.

Which brings me around to the topic at hand. Thanksgiving’s today, and it’s a good time to kick back and tick off the things for which your obdt. svt. (a little Blackie Sherrod lingo, there) is thankful:

God. The God of the Bible. The God of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, David and Solomon. That God. Not Allah, not Muhammad, not Cthulhu, not crystals and/or chakras and/or trees. God. Too damned few of us show our Creator too damned little appreciation for everything He’s given us, and do trust me when I tell you that that little tidbit has not escaped His attention.

His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the work He performed on the cross that allowed me to receive His salvation. (An aside: Yeah, in case anyone didn’t know – I’m a Christian. Not anywhere close to being the best example thereof, to be sure, but I’m still being worked on, and you’re just gonna have to be patient. (grin))

Being an American, and free to worship as I choose. For now, given whom the morons of this country just put into office.

My wife, Mrs. Venomous. Yes, Denizens, I haven’t really mentioned it all that much this past year, given my track record with such pronouncements (rueful grin) – but it’s once more through the marriage breach, dear friends. That’s five now – yes, it does pain me to say that – and So Help Me Cthulu, this is the last one, forever & ever, a-freakin’-men. But this one has convinced me that the institution of marriage really is a Good Thing – she cares for me more than the other four combined. (No offense intended, D.)

My current home – a one-story, 3/2/1.5 house I share with the aforementioned Mrs, a chow/terrier and a huge lump of muscle & energy in the shape of a collie/sheltie mix. Not Better than the cozy cottage in Forney, but at least and I have an office again from which to pen (pen?) these screeds.

My son – Stephen Geoffrey “Skip” Crager, Jr. (although his doublewide-assed mother insists on calling him “Geoffrey”). Even though I haven’t seen you since 2003, Skip, I still love you. Always will. Always remember that.

Friends & family, some more than others. Even the ones who are diametrically opposed to me in their beliefs.

And while I’m thinking about it – and I should have really mentioned this last year, too – my sister in law. My brother, heretofore doomed to a lifetime of Eternal Bachelorhood – not necessarily a Bad Thing, given his sibling’s aforementioned catastrophic track record – was pulled from that abyss by a wonderful woman he met only a couple of years prior. They celebrated their first anniversary back in August 2006, and while it hasn’t been Easy Street for them, they’re doing better than okay.

Employment. Specifically, mine as a desktop technician, where I get to play with computers all day long – in effect, getting paid to practice my hobby.

(Thankfully, I’ve had a full-time gig since 2006, for a company known to me and only to me – since I know pussies like Cianderella Tierney, who bitched long and loud about me being a NetKKKop before having his ass exposed as a lying skank that doesn’t work at EDS, would love to find out where I work and try to get me fired…)

Okay, where was I…?

MP3s. The ability to take all my all-time favorite songs, regardless of format, and transfer them to something I can listen to in my car. Fuck you, Hilary Rosen.

Turkey. Lots of it, preferably drumsticks.

Leftovers. Turkey sammiches with lots of mustard. YEAH!

(Well, hold the bread on that. I have got to-got to-got to start paying more attention to Atkins.)

An American President who, though he is still not completely trustworthy in my eye, is at least giving the impression that he is, at least, trying – which is a damn sight better than what we could have had, hm? And at least this guy understands that the Presidency isn’t just one big frat party. (This will be crossed out at least until 2012 2017.)

The military which he commands. Peepz, these men & women do a helluva job protecting you and yours and the freedoms you enjoy, and they do it for pretty much next-to-nothing. Next time you see one, take a moment to say, “Thank you”. (Another aside: When I first posted this, I left out one very important group of guys: the Coast Guard. Unconscionable, since one of my readers served in that very branch. Mr. Slagle, my apologies – and my thanks.)

My current boxes – an AMD FX six-core processor screaming along with 32 gigs of RAM, plus an Acer Aspire HP Pavilion with eight gigs of RAM. Two 23″-plus monitors so that I don’t have to squint anymore when I write these things. (Well, not much, anyway – at 1280×1024 1920×1280, things are still awfully small.)

The aforementioned crap-on-the-carpet dogs – she’s still a precious little lapdog, and she captures the heart of anyone that meets her. The aforementioned collie mix – a whirling dervish that tears everything up, but he has an infectious personality. Even my brother’s little min-pin and dachsund, Mindy & Demi respectively – two of the most affectionate dogs you’ll ever see.

Ham. Not as much as a turkey drumstick, but leftover ham does go good with eggs.

Any college football team that severely thrashes Nebraska. (Not since they hired Bo Pelini, and hopefully never again.) (As you guys know, I’m done with Pelini. Guy is one of those Dave Campo types – great coordinator, lousy head coach.)

Any college football team that severely thrashes Miami.

Any college football team that severely thrashes Arkansas.

Any college football team that severely thrashes Texas. (Unless it’s Arkansas.)

Any pro football team that severely thrashes ARRRRRRRRRR GEEEEEEEEEEE THREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

TCU’s Horned Frogs. After your best job (again) ever last year, Gary Patterson. You’ve established yourself as one of, if not the best coaches the program’s ever had. Do the city of Fort Worth a favor – don’t go all Franchione on us and jilt us for Bama or Notre Dame or somesuch, mkay?

Any college football team that severely thrashes SMUT.

Any college football team that severely thrashes Bastard Smurf-Turf State. (That’d be you, Boise, and until you can prove that you can win something without having to resort to “trickeration”, that’s the way it’ll stay. You potato-humping pussies are nothing bur frauds.)

(What with TCU’s win at Boise in 2012, all – for the moment – is kinda-sorta forgiven. Let’s not play again for a while, mkay?)

Any pro football team that kicks the crap out of Donna McNabb and the Philthydelphia Beagles & Warshington Foreskins – something the Cowboys did last year (twice), should have done this year in Warshington, and will do this year in Dallas need to start doing a helluva lot more of. (McCrabb’s not even playing for the ViQueens now anymore, so never mind.)

Tony Romo. Especially if he ever wins a playoff game… (sigh) (Assuming he can play behind something resembling an offensive line.) (Not until he can win something.)

Southern Baptist churches that aren’t afraid to call themselves “Baptist”. (Not since they climbed into bed with the enviro-nutjob movement. Now it’s any church that unashamedly preaches the Gospel and refuses to compromise with its enemies.)

An occasional road trip – maybe to go fishing, or even if it’s work-related. I love staying in hotels where I can crank up the AC at night, and not have to worry about the electric bill (grin).

Microsoft. No, all you morons at the federal judiciary – Bill Gates does not run a monopoly, and you damned well know it. What he does do is run an extremely successful company, one that you bastards tried to shake down for $$$$, and failed. It’s not a secret that the tech sector crashed simultaneously with Janet El Reño’s baseless attack against Microsoft.

(Linus Torvalds, and the job he’s done with Linux. And the fine folks at Ubuntu)

Spanish-language television channels. You will not find a better-looking collection of major babes anywhere on Planet Earth. And they don’t mind letting people know that they’re women either, dammit. Take that, NOW.

Mashed potatoes. With a ton of gravy. (Atkins be damned on this one. (grin))

Ranch-style beans™. (Well, not so much now, seeing as ConAgra Backstabbing Foods has decided to shut down the Fort Worth plant that RSB has called home forever – but it’s still a nice little bean.)

Ann Coulter. Michelle Malkin. (Not since Horseface foisted the Romerrhoid on us, and you already know how I feel about Malicious Malkin.) Laura Ingraham. Sigh, yowzah.

The Blogosphere. Specifically, Misha and Alan Henderson – for getting me into this blogging thing. (It’s a long story regarding Misha. Basically, it comes down to that bitch in Florida he calls his sestrickasucksdicka.)

My hairstylist. In all my lifetime, I’ve only found three people who could fully understand what I wanted done to my hair, and do it right in a minimum of time: one retired about 15 years ago. This one’s just as good as her predecessor – and she’s a major babe, too. (grin)

Broadband. Forney didn’t get it on a widespread basis – but I have Verizon FiOSTime Warner Cable AT&T U-verse now, and I rock yet again…(though, as soon as Verizon FiOS comes to Arlington I get just this much more pissed at AT&T… (grin))

…

And finally (though this list is by no means complete) – you Denizens who keep coming back to the site in hopes that I’ve updated it. Without you guys, why am I doing this? Thanks very much for being here.

And Happy Thanksgiving. Remember the Source from whom the blessings originate…

Jerry Kill’s building project at Minnesota has taken another huge step.

Down by double digits in the third quarter, and with star running back David Cobb on the sideline injured, the Gophers (No. 25 CFP) stunned Nebraska (No. 23 CFP, No. 21 AP) 28-24 on Saturday to keep alive their hopes in the Big Ten West.

“I’m not going to tell you that winning in Lincoln, Nebraska, doesn’t rank up there,” Kill said. “That’s not an easy thing to do.”

The Gophers trailed by 14 points at half and by 10 in the middle of the third quarter before Mitch Leidner led two long scoring drives that gave them the lead. Leidner’s 2-yard run put the Gophers ahead, and Briean Boddy-Calhoun made the defensive play of the game when he ripped the ball out of De’Mornay Pierson-El’s hands at the Minnesota 2-yard line with 1:19 left.

[...]

Minnesota (8-3, 5-2), assured of its best Big Ten record since 2003, can win the West and go to the conference championship game on Dec. 6 with a victory at Wisconsin next week. The Cornhuskers (8-3, 4-3), humiliated at Wisconsin a week ago, lost back-to-back conference games for the first time since 2009 and were eliminated from the West race.

On CornNation.com, they’re already calling for changes to be made. Pelini could be out by season’s end if this continues.

—

Rider figured out how to stop Heights: Don’t let them have the ball.

Heights only ran 16 first-half plays. They ran that many in the first quarter against Western Hills.

That sealed their doom. Rider raced to a 21-3 lead, then just played keep-up with Heights the rest of the game.

Should be a good Yellow Jacket team next year. For the first time since the Donnell Dickerson days, I’m highly encouraged.

This week: 2-4. Overall: 60-18-1.

The PFW returns Thursday for the Thanksgiving day edition. Belching will be heartily encouraged.

All is good at the Parsonage this evening. The Starkville high school Yellow Jackets won their play-off game against Southaven 35-10, Ole Miss got beat by Arkansas 30-0, and the Mississippi State Bulldogs beat Vanderbilt 51-0. This makes the Dawgs 10 and 1, and unbeaten at home for the season. Looking forward to next week’s Egg Bowl.

As we launch this pre-holiday edition of the Perfect Football Weekend, Denizens, I find myself having lost all respect for one Adrian Peterson of the Minne-haha ViQueens.

No, not because he drew a tiny dollop of blood when he spanked his son a little too hard with a switch. (As an aside…Steffi Dawn Stewart, I trust you’re not taking it easy on our son when it comes to discipline. I would hate to think he turned out…well, like you.)

No, I’ve lost respect for the man because he caved in to the NFL and promised “never to use a switch as discipline on any of his children again”.

“I won’t ever use a switch again,” Peterson told USA Today Sports in his first extensive public remarks since being indicted for reckless or negligent injury to a child. “There’s different situations where a child needs to be disciplined as far as timeout, taking their toys away, making them take a nap. There’s so many different ways to discipline your kids.”

[...]

Commissioner Roger Goodell, in a statement announcing Peterson’s suspension, was critical of the star running back, saying, “You have shown no meaningful remorse for your conduct.”

And what the ever-loving fuck do you know about “discipline”, Roger Goodfella? Hell – you thought it was okay to only suspend Ray Rice two fucking games!!!

Bastard.

As for you, Peterson – thanks for letting us know your kids are now gonna grow up to be just like the doucherifles over there in Ferguson, MO.

See, Denizens, this is what I rail about when I scream bloody murder about the pussification of America. Peterson’s kid probably had a spanking coming, but because a droplet of blood emanated from his butt-ocks (a little Forrest Gump lingo, there), the metrosexual pansy-assed dickless wonders that make up the Low-Information Lunatic Lickspittles of our society clutch their pearls, acquire Teh Vapors and decry what, fifty to sixty years ago, this society would have roundly cheered.

And then we wonder how we could have elected an illegal Kenyan bastard to the White House – twice – and then just sit, whine & kvetch when he goes and blatantly violates the Constitution instead of manning up, getting off our asses and going and doing something about it.

Thanks, A.P.

Dumbass.

Let’s get on with the football. My Arlington Heights Yellow Jackets have a chance to do what no Fort Worth “hah skrewl” (a little Rush lingo, there) team has done in nearly 15 years: Win an area football playoff game.

They have Wichita Falls Rider tonight at 7:30 in Mineral Wells. Rider & Heights look to be pretty evenly matched – they beat White Settlement Brewer by more than did Heights, but didn’t beat Grapevine by as many as Heights did. They’re capable of putting up points, but they can also give them up, too. Should be a good game.

Sunday, Andy Dalton’s Cincinnati Bengals come to the Southern Command to take on Supreme General Rayegun’s Texans. If they can keep J.J. Watt out of the endzone (either offensively or defensively), they might have a shot. Vegas has the Texans as a two-point home favorite, which translates to a toss-up. I guess it’ll depend on whether Ryan FitzPatrick takes the field.

TCU is off this week, so we’ll have four wildcard games: Rock Chalk to go into Norman and give #21 Oklahoma a scare (and if Kansas does pull off the upset, they’ll be calling for Bob Stoops’ head before the night’s out), #25 UMinnesota to have a letdown game against #23 Nebraska (and believe me, I’d love for Jerry Kill’s bunch to go in and upset Bo Pelini’s kids, but I just don’t see it happening), eighth-ranked Ole Miss to give Ar-kansas a shellacking in Fayetteville (I will never pick the Hogs for anything, ever), and Liberty U. to get their asses whipped at Coastal Carolina. (Sorry, Turner – I was gonna pick you…but then I saw whom you were playing, and you couldn’t beat ‘em at home last year, so…(shrug))

We’re back Monday for the recap. (And it will be Monday, too – tune into this channel tomorrow to learn why. (Hint: This is as close to a countdown as you guys are gonna get this year. One.))

Denizens, we launch into this week’s edition of the Perfect Football Weekend with yet another blurb from the Penn State debacle – this time with the No Cojones At All administration coming >< this close to stepping into a pile of shit up to its collective head.
To wit:
—
“A newly disclosed email from the NCAA’s top lawyer documents just how close Penn State came to having its football program shut down due to the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal.
It says the school’s “cooperation and transparency” saved the program.”
—
(Sorry for the formatting – looks like WordPress is vomiting up a lot of my coding tonight.)
That would be the “cooperation and transparency” into which it was browbeaten & cowed, if you’ll recall.
—
“The email from lawyer Donald Remy to a school attorney was attached to a court filing Thursday, as the NCAA battles with two Pennsylvania officials over penalties that were imposed on Penn State.
The email establishes that on July 17, 2012, six days before the Penn State sanctions were announced, a majority on the NCAA executive committee favored the “death penalty,” shutting down the football program.”
—
And again, this is the NCAA threatening to shut down the football program for the actions of people who weren’t even employed there, simply because they had certain access to certain buildings, where they performed activities that were not even sanctioned by the university, that were eventually dealt with by school personnel in accordance with Pennsylvania law.
This would be akin to Arlington Heights losing its football program for me entering the school building and performing some illegality, any illegality, that was arbitrarily & capriciously deemed to be _¡qué horrible!_
Damn good thing I’m not the PSU chancellor. My lawsuit against the NCAA would have started at ten (10) digits, and gone from there. (For the pussies in the Church of the SubTarded, that’s one-extra-extra-extra-extra large, or one billion.)
Once again…fuck you, NCAA.
Very quickly now, on with the football. As I write this, my Arlington Heights Yellow Jackets, fresh off a perfect season, are in the bi-district playoffs against Burleson Centennial HS down south of Realm HQ, in Mansfield. As of this writing, Heights is up 7-0, so we’ll keep an eye on that.
Tomorrow, Gary Patterson takes his fourth-ranked TCU Horned Frogs – yes, that’s right; if the season ended today, the Frogs would be in the playoffs – up to Lawrence to play Rock Chalk. The Tadpoles are a solid 28-point favorite here, so unless they lay a complete egg, I don’t see them breaking _that_ much of a sweat.
Sunday, Andy Dalton’s Cincinnati Kittycats – fresh off that humiliation at the hands of Cleveland (Cleveland?), try to snap out of it vs. the Saints at the Superdome in N’awlins. This isn’t the best place to try to snap out of a funk, but N’awlins isn’t playing all that well, either (they’re one game under .500), so even though they’re a 7-point favorite at home, Cincy’s got a shot here.
Wild card games are as follows: *Oklahoma* traveling to Lubbock & taking out their Baylor frustrations on TTech (sorry, Generalette), #16 Nebraska going up to Madison to get pounded on by #20 *Wisconsin* (Joel Stave’s not quite as crappy a quarterback as Tommy Armstrong), and top-ranked Mississippi State running into fifth-ranked *Alabama’s* buzzsaw (sorry, Vicar).
We’re back next week with the recap. Maybe it’ll be Monday – who knows?

It helps, though, if you have Microsoft Internet Explorer set about 1024x768 1280x1024 with your Favorites window activated on the left deactivated. (At least until I can get a better handle on how WordPress works.)